Live by a few simple rules when buying Pork Chops and you will never again be bothered with ‘dry’ meat. Make sure you get your meat from a local butchers shop, forget the supermarket – the meat is invariably pumped full of water. A good sign of this is the colour – the paler the colour the less likely it is to be the good stuff – you want dark, dark pink.

Make sure you use the pork on the day you get it – don’t leave it hangin’ around, it’s not like beef that benefits from this so get it and get stuck into it. Fry then bake pork chops – fry hard to colour then gentle oven bake to finish – also a slight pink blush in the meat won’t kill you!

Finally – fat is good. Look for a meat to fat ratio of about 80/20

Fat chops with stock leeks – serves two

2 top quality Pork Loin Chops – 80/20 fat to meat – Butcher bought and cut
4 large leeks finley sliced and washed well
500ml chicken stock
1tps English mustard powder
A couple of pinches of cayenne pepper
Salt flakes and cracked black pepper
Big knob of butter

Oil up a heavy based frying pan and get is smokin’. Drop in the butter but do not let it burn. Season the Porkers with the English mustard powder, Cayenne, Salt and pepper then brown well in the pan. This will only take a few minutes on each side.

Sling the pork and pan into a mid-tilt oven (150 will do it) – when the pork’s in the oven get the leeks goin’ – oil and butter up another pan and sling in the leeks – you only want to soften and sweat them to release their natural sugars so keep them moving in the pan when the start to soften add the stock and cook out for another 5-8 minutes.

At this tage your Pork should be done – good way to check is stick teh tip of a knife into the middle then hold it to you lip – if its hot it’s done.

Serve as the pics suggests….or just eat it out of the pan Pork Boy!